Festive Christmas Cupcakes

So this week I took some Christmas gifts in for the teachers: festive cupcakes. Ta-dah!

I try not to blow my own trumpet on a regular basis but I hope you'll excuse me this time. They're not up to commercial standards or perfect for selling in a shop or anything - definitely not a patch on my friend Deb's cupcakes - but I *think* they're OK.

I make cupcakes every year, on more than one occasion; in fact it's a bit of a trap that I've fallen into. By that I don't mean that the cakes are expected or that teachers would be upset if they didn't receive some. It's me putting the pressure on myself. I struggle to decide what I'd buy in a store as a gift for someone whose home life I know very little about in most cases, but at the same time someone who has made a huge difference to our lives. At the same time, I struggle even more to get my own children to make anything special for their teachers - not because they don't appreciate them, but more because there never seems to be a 'good time'. Of course, with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) in the house, there's never a good time for demands, but I do find that towards the end of term, even more chill time after school than usual is needed by our youngest.

Mr C always asks me why I'm making them. He can see the time and effort they take and to be honest I think he worries a bit about the mess in the kitchen....

I do it for two main reasons though; firstly because it's the only tiny bit of creativity I have in me (but if I'm being honest, Pinterest helps a lot these days), but secondly because I like to make people happy. Many people have told me they are tasty, and I have to believe them as I hardly ever eat cake myself (would much rather have a chocolate biscuit). They could be lying of course, just to make me happy, but I'm OK with that too. This year our eldest joined in with helping me make them and it was so enjoyable working together. I'm hoping this can be a new and long lasting festive tradition!

With this post, I am joining in with Penny and Wayfair's #BlogItForward challenge, which is funnily enough all about giving back! The great news is that for every blog post about acts of kindness in December which is displaying the badge below, Wayfair are donating £50 to Habitat for Humanity. So this post is a winner!

There's so many simple ways we can help others, especially at this time of year, which can be tough for lots of reasons. Appreciating people and saying thank you is one way I'm joining in; highlighting great businesses and dropping much needed items along with extras such as toys into a food bank are others. The reward is feeling good, and knowing you've helped others. Why don't you try it and join in?!

PDA is a type of Autism Spectrum Disorder which is best approached using 'non-typical' parenting strategies (read more about PDA its...

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What is Autism?

'Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way a person communicates and relates to people around them. People with autism have difficulties with everyday social interaction'.What is PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)?

Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is one of several Autistic Spectrum Conditions (also known as ASD, Autistic Spectrum Disorder). The central difficulty for people with PDA is their avoidance of the everyday demands made by other people, due to their high anxiety levels when they feel that they are not in control.

Children may sometimes be described as having 'challenging' or 'oppositional' behaviour. Parents describe life as 'walking on eggshells' and their child as 'Jekyll and Hyde'.